


A Glimmer in the Dark

by quixotesque



Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Black Panther Spoilers, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 14:04:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13683180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quixotesque/pseuds/quixotesque
Summary: "You will see," T'Challa says.(A super quick snippet of an alternate ending to the film. MAJOR Black Panther spoilers, so definitely avoid if you haven't seen the film!)





	A Glimmer in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> I can't recall the words between Erik and T'Challa at the end of the film with perfect accuracy, so apologies for any errors there. I'm really interested in this alternate ending, so I may come back to it when I can actually commit to writing something longer. I hope you enjoy anyway.

“There is still time to heal you,” T’Challa finds himself saying, even as he knows what this man has done, all the blood he has spilled and the lives he has taken. Zuri’s life. T’Challa’s blood. Shuri’s, nearly. T’Challa holds no illusions of reforming Killmonger or even forgiving him.

“Why? So you can lock me up?”

“You must answer for your crimes.”

Zemo had wanted to die, too, grimly determined, and T’Challa had not allowed it. _The living are not done with you yet._

Killmonger draws in a shuddering breath and swallows harshly. “Like your father did for his?”

Something sharp and vicious flares up in T’Challa’s chest, as if he has an unforgiving blade embedded in him also, slicing deep into a place that is already raw and aching. He wonders if this is what his father had felt like, if his secret had lived like an arrowhead in his veins, fresh guilt bleeding out with each cut. “I would undo what he did if I could, but I cannot. I can only strive to be a better man.”

Killmonger lets loose a brittle sound that quickly shifts from mocking laughter to a pained groan. “Yeah, handle your conscience however you like,” he mutters. His hand moves to the hilt of the sword. “Bury me in—”

T’Challa’s fingers drop suddenly, tight and unyielding over Killmonger’s, forcing them still. Killmonger gasps, then grits his teeth, defiant despite his waning strength. His temples glimmer with sweat.

“You will see,” T’Challa says. He hears his own resolve, firm as the earth they’re standing on. “You will live and you will see how Wakanda helps the world. It won’t be through waging war as you wanted it to be, but I _will_ help them.”

Killmonger’s eyes widen in surprise. In the sunset’s golden light, their obsidian hardness seems to melt a little. Half clasped in death’s hand, his face is abruptly younger and T’Challa sees glimpses of that child who had been left fatherless and abandoned, who had not been saved from becoming yet another creature consumed by vengeance.

T’Challa chooses to save him now.


End file.
